'So, We'll Go No More A-Roving' by Lord Byron (1788-1824).

Written when Byron was 29.

Background info(from the IGCSE notes on the poems and Wikipedia)

George Gordon Byron was born in 1788 and became Lord Byron on the death of hisfather in 1798. He is often thought of as the 'bad boy' of English Romantic poetry; he was described by a contemporary as being 'mad, bad and dangerous to know'. He had numerous affairs, including, it was rumoured, one with his half sister. He also fathered several illegitimate children.

The poem is based on the sixteenth-century sea shanty ‘The Maid of Amsterdam’. Inmany versions of the song, the words are rather risqué. Byron’s poem was includedin a letter to a friend and fellow reveller, Thomas Moore. The full context is includedbelow.

'I feel anxious to hear from you, even more than usual, because you last indicated

that you were unwell. At present, I am on the invalid regimen myself. The Carnival

– that is, the latter part of it – and sitting up late o’nights, had knocked me up a little.

But it is over, and it is now Lent, with all its abstinence and Sacred Music.

'The mumming closed with a masked ball at the Fenice, where I went, as also to

most of the ridottos etc. etc. and though I did not dissipate much upon the whole, yet

I find the “sword wearing out the scabbard”, though I have but just turned the corner

of twenty-nine.'

Vocabulary

Roving – roaming or wandering

Sheath – a case or covering for the blade of a sword.

Questions on So, 'We'll Go No More A-Roving' by Lord Byron

  1. Line 1: who do you think 'we' is?
  2. What does 'roving' mean? Why has the poet added an extra 'a' in front of the verb?
  3. What time of day is the poet describing?
  4. What does this suggest about the sort of 'roving' to be done?
  5. In your opinion, what are the poet's feelings about 'going no more a-roving'? What makes you think this?
  6. What is a sheath?
  7. The first two lines of stanza 2 are metaphors. What for?
  8. The rhythm of the poem changes in stanza 2. How? Can you think of why the poet would have wanted to do this?
  9. In what way does the final stanza echo the beginning of the poem?
  10. What is the meaning of 'the day returns too soon?'